Delis and hotdog stands are barred from selling a 20-ounce lemonade, but the 7-Eleven a few feet away remains free to sell Big Gulps.A lawsuit filed against New York City • Asking a court to block the infamous soda ban that’s supposed to take effect in March. A number of key groups, including the American Beverage Association and the National Restaurant Association, went ahead with the lawsuit, which was widely expected, on Friday.
Poll: Majority oppose New York City soda ban
It appears a majority of Americans aren’t too sweet on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed soda ban.
Key line: “About seven in 10, or 71 percent, say they don’t believe that limiting soda cup sizes will actually have an impact on obesity rates.” For comparison’s sake, would like to see a formal poll on the Disney thing. This non-scientific poll is mostly in favor of Disney’s ad policy changes.
Yeah, and so did Philip Morris, Countrywide Financial, etc. I don’t have a dog in this fight, but it’s nonsensical to argue that “we’re simply giving the customer what he wants” is an airtight defense.
See, here’s the thing: Neither Bloomberg nor McDonald’s are completely right on this issue. Clearly there’s a fight going on regarding the overall health of our society, and in some quarters, it’s simply being lost. Bloomberg is right to focus on the problem, but really, the target here is not so much the consumer but the corporation. If you limited the amount of corn syrup one could get from an average meal at Mickey D’s, rather than the portion size, you’d get much further.
Bloomberg has done good things on this issue in general — his anti-trans-fat push was successful, and having restaurants list calorie counts on their menus is something they should simply do without being asked. But, unlike smoking, this feels like an issue that may need to be handled at a level above the consumer, at the manufacturing level.
And to everyone, a suggestion: Stop drinking soda for a week or two. Switch to water. Then go back to it. You’ll notice something weird happen — you’ll find it much stronger than it was a week before. That’s because it was always that strong, but you had gotten used to it. Keep that in mind.
One doughnut is not going to hurt you. In moderation, most things are OK. … That is exactly what we’re trying to do with soft drinks is get you to drink in moderation.NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg • Responding to criticism from the Today Show’s Matt Lauer about his office’s support of National Doughnut Day less than two days after announcing a proposed ban on soda sizes larger than 16 ounces. Bloomberg’s faced criticism from other politicians for spending his time on the issue. “I like Mayor Bloomberg, but are you kidding me? Come on,” House Speaker John Boehner said Friday. “Don’t we have bigger issues to deal with than the size of some soft drink that somebody buys?” What say you? Valid or hypocritical?
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